Worried about my juvie Jack Dempsey

Hey, so I got jack about 3 or 4 weeks ago, I've been wanting to get a JD for some time and saw these great little guys at a really trustworthy LFS and decided to take the opportunity to nab him. So, He's been coloring up nicely and filling out as well, great big apatite for all kinds of food. After my Sat water change the little guy has been looking a little downer, hanging out low in the tank and just been really mellow, I'm wary of feeding him too much but he's had a muted response to food...maybe i'm just seeing that. Anyways here are the specs.

Tank: 10g (don't worry he's only 1.5" at this point and i have a 20h and 40b currently I just don't want to have to put up that size of tank yet)
Filters: Aqueon 20g HOB, marineland 10g in tank stuffed with foam
Heater: 50w something or another
Lights: 2x 6700k 48" t8s split between 2 10gs
Substrate: Mixed black sand and #3 gravel arpox 1.5" depth
Temp: 78 degrees
NH3/NH3: 0 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
pH: 7.4

When I got him I treated him with garlic additive both to the water and food for 1 week for parasites.

Here are some photos:

When i first got him:

Saturday:

And present:

Here are the tests:

Now, I know JDs are known for being moody and i did just plant a few crypts in the tank after he had established his territory, please tell me he's just pouting?

"Two Things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi

yeah...it was either the EBJD or the Tiger Oscar for this role...and frankly I'd never been that smitten with the EBJD until I saw this particular guy...his greens are great when he's feeling cocky, knocks my socks off

"Two Things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi

I'm still a little worried about Jack, I checked all the params today and his water is still perfect but he's still being grumpy. Should i be thinking about medicating him? I really don't want to loose this fish, if for no other reason than he was very expensive

"Two Things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi

Never medicate unless you know there is a reason to, this will do more harm than good. He is probably just a relaxed personality. If he has his territory set up than he's just chillin' probably. And maybe still upset you re-arranged his tank after finding a territory. Give him a couple days to get over this, I know my parrots would pout for days if I changed anything.

ugh...just makes me nervous to "wait and see" with a $60 fish >.< I know, I know, I need to be patient and trust the tests...fish in clean water living by themselves can't get sick from THAT many things...I guess...:uhoh:If this is how moody these fish can be I'm quite shocked, 3 days ago he was perking up and greeting me when i came in and happily racing to the food corner if I touched his tank...now he wont even turn around and look at me when he's 3" from the glass and 4" from my face :shakehead:

"Two Things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi

I feel ya!1 But it really is in the best interest to wait.
My angel is very much the same way, he will go WEEKS where he is being a picky earter (when he will only accept live worms and frozen brine shrimp) and hide in the corner when I come to the tank; and then I'll do a water change or do something small like remove some algae and he'll be his "old" happy self eating flakes and greeting me eagerly. I don't know why he's a grump sometimes, or what snaps him out of it but for this reason I dubbed him "Mr. Grumpyface". Cichlids really are a lot more "high thinking" than some like schooling fish. Maybe your fish has a "trigger" that will get him acting like his old self. Keep an eye out for serious change, but if he's being picky and "anti-human" he's probably just having a tantrum, I feel this is what is happening, because it's similar to how my parrots and angels acted (and EBJDs, angels, and parrots are all cichlids so would have some similar traits).
They really can be that moody, it really is crazy...

I've got multies and a couple angels and my wife as two Bolivians so I've got some experience with cichilds...I'm used to the bright faces and intelligent responsive behavior, but I got the JD because I'd read that they have a personality that goes above and beyond...i guess this is it huh?

Side note: I finally caught him with a BM and it was normally size/texture except kindof a cream color (definitely not stringy at all, it passed completely normally) I'm guessing that the color is from the fasting from the last couple days and the fact that the last thing he ate with any vigor were frozen mysis shrimp which are that exact creamish color...thoughts?

"Two Things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi

So, Jack still has me a little stressed, I got some flightless fruit flies and superworms and he refused them, also refused his favorite NLS pellet. Watched him through the morning and he was actually only getting worse, not just moody but blanched out on his belly and actually swimming somewhat poorly. The closest thing I can think of is that A: I fed him some zucchini to see what his response to veggies was and he hates the smell, I fed it on Saturday, or B:I got some form of toxic chemical in his tank on my hands, so I went ahead and did a 80% WC (he started perking up as soon as i started vacuuming for some ridiculous reason) and by the time I was done filling his colors were much deeper in his belly and his swimming had drastically improved, no longer kindof stumbling along so to speak but making quick deliberate motions. He also started to hang out near the surface and kind of pant, once I got done filling (10min max from opening the hood) he returned to his original cave he'd chosen when i first got him and went back to what i would say is default behavior for this fish. So I've added activated carbon to his filter (i normally don't use it) and an air stone in case oxygenation is an issue here (although his tank has more surface agitation than many other tanks with much heavier stocking). I've been very careful to stay aware of the fact that he may just be stressed, but at the same time I'm not completely new to intelligent fish and their tantrums and can't get past the concept that a fish showing his level of behavior isn't simply grouchy but is actually feeling something. Also, I know that at his whopping 1.5" a 10g is plenty room for him to be comfortable, and chemically his water is 100% sound, but could this be that he just needs more room to move? If it seems like tank size is the issue here please say so, I've got no problem getting him in something larger, in fact something larger is sitting in my shop right now...i just don't want to deal with another big tank right yet...and the 10gs match each other.

"Two Things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi

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